


Horton, The Elephant Who Waited

by wshaffer



Category: DR. SEUSS - Works, Doctor Who
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-02-04
Updated: 2012-02-04
Packaged: 2017-10-30 14:54:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,206
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/332960
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wshaffer/pseuds/wshaffer
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Horton the Elephant meets a strange man with a blue box.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Horton, The Elephant Who Waited

**Author's Note:**

  * For [russian_blue](https://archiveofourown.org/users/russian_blue/gifts).



On a fine summer's day in the jungle of Nool  
Horton the elephant sat by a pool  
Enjoying the sunshine and washing his socks  
When out of nowhere appeared a giant blue box.  
And not just appeared; it made quite a noise  
Like the sound of an army of unruly boys  
Equipped with kazoos. And then the noise stopped  
And there was the box,  
Sitting next to a pile of Horton's wet socks. 

"Police Public Call Box," Horton read with a frown.  
Should he call the police with this thing he had found?  
And then a young man stepped out of the box  
He looked at jungle, at Horton, his socks  
and said, "Hello! I'm the Doctor. I travel in space!  
I travel in time. I'm the last of my race.   
I wear a bowtie, because bowties are cool.  
Where is this place?"

"You're in the Jungle of Nool,"   
said Horton, "And this is my sock-washing pool."

"A pool!" said the Doctor. "How splendid. I'm fond  
Of bodies of water, for River and Pond  
are two of my best friends-" and he stopped with a blink  
For his giant blue box had started to shrink.  
"No, no!" said the Doctor, "This is not good at all."  
And the box, which had started out so very tall,  
It shrank and it dwindled, becoming quite small  
"No, no!" said the Doctor, tearing his hair,  
"This is a problem - my friends are in there!"

He pulled out a gadget from inside his jacket.  
It buzzed and it glowed and it made quite a racket.  
"What is that?" asked Horton, all in a panic.   
"A screwdriver," said the Doctor. "And it's quite sonic."  
"A sonic screwdriver! But what does it do?"  
Asked Horton, who really did not have a clue.   
"All sorts, but right now it's a great fault locator."  
Horton looked blank. "I'll explain later,"  
the Doctor continued, tearing his hair,  
"But it's telling me that the problem is somewhere out there.

"Dear Horton," he said. "Will you stay by my box?  
And keep it from harm, while I borrow your socks  
And go fix the fault that has shrunk my blue box?"

"Doctor," said Horton, "you have my word  
The neither dog nor cat nor fish nor bird  
will harm this box, or River, or Pond.  
And an elephant's word is an elephant's bond."

Then the Doctor was off, off in a flash -   
For, oh, how that Doctor could certainly dash -   
And Horton was left with the box that was blue  
Until who should come by but the Sour Kangaroo  
"Horton," she called out, "what are you doing?  
I can see by your look that some nonsense is brewing!"

"No nonsense," said Horton, standing up tall.  
"I am guarding this box for the Doctor, that's all."

"The Doctor?" she snorted. "Horton, you fool.  
There's no one by that name in the Jungle of Nool."

"He's a traveller," said Horton, "in time and in space.  
So clearly he came here from some other place."

"A traveller?" she asked. "How did he arrive?"  
"Did he walk? Did he swim? Did he fly? Did he drive?"

"He came in this box, with a noise and a light,  
And then found himself in a terrible plight.  
For the box, which was big, had suddenly shrunk."

The kangaroo laughed. "I think that you're drunk.  
A traveller, a doctor, you say - Doctor Who?  
Your story is rubbish, and that box is, too."  
And the kangaroo set her paw on the box with a thunk.  
"Don't touch it," cried Horton, but too late - she had shrunk.

"Now look what you've done!" squeaked the Sour Kangaroo.   
"I've gotten all tiny. Now what will I do?"

"If you'd listened to me, you'd have saved all this trouble.   
But the Doctor will pop this dimensional bubble.   
He'll sort this all out, I promise. Don't scoff."

The kangaroo snorted. "I'll find Vlad Vladikoff.  
He'll have a fix. He'll find me a cure."

Horton looked doubtful. "I'm really not sure-"  
But the Sour Kangaroo had hopped off in a huff,  
Leaving Horton to wait by the pool with his stuff.   
He waited for hours, he waited for days.   
He waited through sun, heat, rain, fog, and haze.   
Horton stood fast by his sock-washing pond.   
For an elephant's word is an elephant's bond. 

Then one afternoon, Horton's ears heard a sound,  
Something whirring and grinding and crashing around  
In the jungle. It sounded quite fearsome, all right.   
But Horton the elephant didn't take flight.   
He stood firm, for a coward Horton was not.   
And what should appear but a black pepperpot,  
Sized for a giant, with a glowing eyestalk.   
"I've not seen you before," Horton said. "Do you talk?"

"To inferior beings, Daleks do not speak!"

"Inferior being?" cried Horton. "What cheek!  
Why even the likes of the Sour Kangaroo  
Are not as plain rude and as stuck up as you!"

To this statement the Dalek made no reply.   
It swiveled and twisted its one glowing eye,  
Till it rested its gaze on that little blue box.   
"Leave that alone!" Horton cried. "That's the Doc's!"

The thing trundled forward. "Objective located!"  
It said in that strange tinny voice that so grated.   
Then it shouted, "Alert! Dimensional bubble!"  
As it was caught in the trap that had caused all this trouble.   
It dwindled down smaller than the little blue box,  
And Horton, thinking quickly, took one of his socks  
And popped it right over the Dalek's domed head  
It ranted and raged. Round the jungle it sped.  
"My vision is impaired! I cannot see!"  
It shrieked over and over, then spun into a tree  
And exploded to bits with a shower of sparks. 

"This box-guarding business sure isn't all larks,"  
Grumbled Horton. "First the kangaroo gets herself shrunk,  
Then comes a Dalek, shouting such bunk.  
I wish that the Doctor would sort out this mess.  
But where could he be?"

"I'll give you one guess!"  
Said the Doctor. "I've returned to this pool,  
Where you all wash your socks in the Jungle of Nool,  
Having been 'round the globe and done complex things  
Involving paperclips, bowties, and strings!  
Our problem's nearly sorted, so don't be distressed.   
And you dealt with a Dalek! I must say I'm impressed."  
"It was nothing," said Horton. Cried the Doc, "Not at all!  
A Dalek's a Dalek, no matter how small!  
Now, let's get my TARDIS back to full size."  
He waved the screwdriver and to Horton's surprise  
The box grew and it grew and it grew and it grew.   
"Well, Doctor," sighed Horton. "I suppose that we're through.  
You'll be off on your travels, fly away in your box  
And I will sit here and keep washing my socks."

The Doctor paused, and straightened his tie  
And then he looked Horton right in the eye.  
"Well, it just so happens that I have a place  
For a loyal pachyderm to travel in space.  
Come on, Horton! Come for a ride!  
You'll fit right in - it's bigger on the inside!"

"Really?" asked Horton. "I could travel with you?  
In your funny blue box and be part of your crew?"  
He stepped into the box, feeling elated.  
And that is the story of Horton, who waited. 

THE END


End file.
